Need some advice

[Sxyfyre06]

I am a 25 yr old firefighter that needs to lose about 15 pounds and get into shape for a physical agility test by march. I have reduced my fat intake as well as my cafeine intake. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me?

[tnff320]

Run, work out, eat right, drink a lot of water. Doesn't sound like much or hard. But if you cant handle doing all four up to your PT and even after the test is over, your gona be out of luck. A lot of people think you can do one part and they will lose all the weight and look as good as they want. But you gotta do all four every day. But enough preaching this is what you need to do.
1. Make a work out plan.
Ex. Monday- lift (chest, shoulder, back), abs, run 1 mile before or after
Tuesday- lift (bicept, tricept), abs, run 1 mile before or after
Wednesday- run 2-3 miles, abs
Thursday- lift (chest, shoulder, back), abs, run 1 mile before or after
Friday- lift (bicept, tricept), abs, run 1 mile before or after
Saturday- run 2-3 miles, abs
Sunday- rest
2. Diet
Eat a lot of protien to build strength. Fat and calories are not bad for you unless you eat a lot of food and all of it has a lot of fat or calories in it. Just control how much you eat. If you are used to eating 4 meals a day with two snacks a day, then you will have to cut it down to maybe 3 big meals a day, then further to 3 normal sized meals. You have to fight and control your urge to eat more when you know you shouldn't. The perfect meal to have is a large salad, with maybe some grilled chicken. Do not add all the toppings on it, such as croutons, cheese, etc. (unless moderated), because you add a lot of fat, calories, and carbs (although like I said before all 3 can be helpful if limited). Limit the amount of dressing you put on top also. If you don't read much get use to it, because you should read all the nutrition labels for what your about to eat. Although I don't know what a good intake is for fat, calories, protein, carbs, or other things, yo should look online to see what you can find.

3. Running
The most important one. If you can't last long and tire easily during strenous activity this step will be hard. Although no body really loves to run, it has to be done to be a firefighter. Cardio is one of the biggest part of firefighting. If you start to get tired as you run and think you wanna stop, that is the last thing you should do. If you feel the urge to stop go another half mile to a mile. Push yourself!! It gets easier and easier each time.

4. WATER!!
Don't kill yourself working out, we need you out there!! Stay hydrated and drink water all the time. Drink it to the point that when you pee, if you didnt flush the toilet no one would know you peed in there. When you can reach that point in water consumption, you're at the right spot.




Remember to stay motivated. You have your motivation...firefighting!! Sorry it's so long, but all that stuff is what I like to do. By the way...NO SHORT CUTS. If you plan to take steroids or even diet pills, after you are done taking them, you can easily end up way worse than before.

[irishltemt69]

tnff has it right - Bottom line, burn more calories than you take in! You will lose the weight, but definitely keep up on the workouts if you are going for the test!
Good Luck

[bravesst]

Some of the information posted is correct, as any amount of extra activity with an associated caloric reduction will result in weight loss, but the most efficient way to do this is another matter. Consume healthier, nutrient dense foods that result in less fat and over caloric intake - that's a no-brainer.

Give up the bodybuilder mentality... Please, if you're training to be a firefighter, workout like one. Full body, functional movements are best. I recently wrote an article on a very simple way to recreate this at home with very little equipment.

GO TO: >> STS Training

Another great way to recreate firefighting conditions in the gym, but safely, is with kettlebell training. Authentic kettlebell lifting features timed, high rep sets. If you click on my website home page, there's plenty of information about kettlebells, and kettlebells for firefighters.

Good Luck!

[ewelk33]

Mike,

I am curious what is wrong with the bodybuilder mentality?

[bravesst]

Mike,

I am curious what is wrong with the bodybuilder mentality?

Nothing, if you're a bodybuilder, but we're firefighters, and need to train for performance, NOT purely for appearance and hypertrophated muscles. I applaud anybody who can train with that type of discipline, but it doesn't build the qualities that a working firefighter needs on a daily basis. Sometimes the two paths can overlap, but generally speaking, one needs to integrate, not isolate, perform functional long sets, not worrying about not getting enough "chest" or "bi's". Firefighter fitness is about work capacity as king, with muscle tone and fat loss as a great side effect.

As a firefighter, I'd love to introduce you to my type of training... kettlebell lifting and STS. If you're interested, read around my website for more information as I've answered your question in one way or another dozens of times in many articles. If there is any other questions or any thing I can help you with, please let me know.
GO TO: >> STS ARTICLE

[ogomez]

I agree with Capt Mike. I'm not against it but realize that bodybuilding/split day training came from the Arnold era and is meant to tear down muscle to build muscle. This works for that purpose but has a few drawbacks: It creates muscular imbalance which can lead to chronic injuries later on, it doesn't train the neuromuscular pathways to increase reaction time/coordination/agility/balance, muscular strength and size is great but our job also requires muscular endurance and proper range of motion as well as strength.
To give you a real world example: look at Navy SEALs/special ops, most of them are smaller leaner guys, the body builders do not last (most of them). Also, SEALs are going to ultra-endurance events to recruit those type of guys because the recruits they have been getting don't last. Another population are smoke jumpers, not the biggest guys but they perform at a high level.

BAsically you have to train for performance not size, I always ask guys "are you training for the complete athlete" to include:
strength and power
endurance (cardio and muscular)
speed
agility
balance
range of motion

If you aren;t addressing all of these then you might rethink your training. The best part is that you can train all of these components of fitness in 45 min or less doing functional, bodyweight training. Crossfit is one example. You can include weights if you like

Orlando Gomez FF/PFT/PT
Portland Fire & Rescue
www.adapttraining.com

[ewelk33]

I get that really I do. I just dont like when people discredit bodybuilders as training purely for looks and pump. I am a bodybuilder and career firefighter and am in the best shape of my life. I train cycles for size, strength, and endurance as well as trying to build a balanced physique.

Believe me I wish we trained as a shift like the navy seals cuz I wud hang then go to the gym on my days off and train like a knuckle dragging bodybuilder! Hey Mike how do you get the guys to bring fruit & grains instead of pies?!

[ogomez]

Ewelk33
Sorry to upset you but realize that the "traditional" splitday workouts and magazine workouts are for the most part to gain size and for looks.

I get where you are coming from. My comments obviously have exceptions. If you are able to do it all and have the ability to bulk up then great. The issue is more about creating and maintaining the most efficient performing body possible. I was in the best shape in my life getting out of the academy until I found this way of training. I had been jogging and doing split day routines and was creating muscular imbalances that were resulting in low back pain and R knee pain that would affect be on occasion. Since training my body for efficiency of movement rather that just strength and size all those issues are a thing of the past. I have also gotten stronger, looser, faster and have more endurance, spending less time doing it.

My issue is with guys that lift with little knowledge of what effect it has in their bodies beyond getting big and strong. In my 17 years as a PT and now a FF I am amazed with the prevelance of injuries in the fire service and I can say that a large % are due to this issue and could be prevented with proper education and training

Again if you are training in a manner that creates the most efficient performance then great. I feel that a large % are not. It is in large part due to myths in training, reading magazines that focus on individual body parts for size or give partial workouts. You can do workouts that are total body, include cardio/balance/coordination all in less than 45 minutes. For an example go to the www.adapttraining.com website and go to "Press" for video of example workouts.

Here is an article I presented at the IAFF Redmond Symposium this past fall that talks about this topic

[Drjmilus]

Wow! Some great input above.

Captain Mike has some great insight. That article's great! Functional exercises are where it's at... in ranges of motion, with resistance (body weight) that immitates the tasks which need to be done on the job.

I can't discredit what has been said by some of you... that being a body builder and a firefighter is possible. But that's not always true for everybody. Some people cannot build as much mass, strength and power as you can. They need to focus on functional exercises in order to max their performance for the essential things. They need to focus on function not form. Doing biceps and triceps in the same hour that they could be spending doing kettle bell work is a mis-direction of energy expenditure for them. The answer isn't just to train more, they need rest too.

I agree with OGOmez on the statement about body building often times leading to muscle imbalances. The most common one I see is an over development of front of body musclulature, and an underdevelopment of back of body musculature. More specifically, pec and biceps over training relative to rhomboid, trap, lat and tricep training. This very often results in the internal rotation if the humoral head, and shoulder problems.... rotator cuff, bursitis, labrum tears...

A self test for that sort of imbalance is: Stand in front of a mirror (or a friend) with your arms loosely at your sides. Relax. Close your eyes and open them again. If your plams face your body, you are pretty balanced. If you open your eyes, and your palms are facing back, you could be headed for trouble.

That's what I see wrong with the body builders I see in my favorite muscle head gym...

Dr. Jen
www.fireagility.com

[westchester47]

I'm also in favor of full body or upper/lower splits for firefighters. I'll only use bodypart splits if someone is suffering from fatigue. Then and only then would I use bodypart training as it's less taxing on the CNS, and it allows one to train without making inroads into recovery.

Train movements...not muscles!

Good advice by everyone.


JC
http://www.ultimatefirefighterworkout.blogspot.com